During the old-school years of Big Brother, it used to be a common belief that winning the first Head of Household competition of the season was a bad move. However, that’s no longer entirely true. While it is true that the first HOH is forced to take the first shots and get blood on his or her hands straight away, there are also a lot of advantages to holding that position, particularly in recent seasons of the show.

Historically, there have been five Big Brother winners that started their respective seasons winning the first Head of Household competition: Lisa Donahue (BB3), Hayden Moss (BB12), Rachel Reilly (BB13), Nicole Franzel (BB18), and Cody Calafiore (BB22). This list could also include BB21 winner Jackson Michie, who gained a lot of power and leverage in the game as the Camp Director in week 1 – a position of leadership that held a lot of weight and set him up for the rest of the season. Another notable mention is Tyler Crispen, who won the first HOH comp on BB20 and finished in second place.

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But even when thinking about the first Heads of Household that didn’t win their seasons of Big Brother, it has become painfully obvious in recent seasons that this position can be highly advantageous to the person that holds it. More often than not, having this much power this early in the game is basically a guarantee that the other power players of the season will want to include you in important discussions about game moves and alliance formations. On BB22, for instance, Cody Calafiore just had to basically sit and wait in the HOH room for players to drop on his lap alliances such as the Committee and the ill-fated Slick Six.

The first Head of Household comp wins earned by Nicole Franzel on BB18 and Tyler Crispen on BB20, as well as Jackson Michie’s Camp Director power at the start of BB21, were vital to these players’ success on the show. They were able to control the channels of communication since day one and expertly used their positions in the game to pick allies that they wanted to work with, form dominant alliances, and set the tone for the rest of the season. And yes, there is always the risk that winning the first HOH will put a massive target on your back, which is what happened to Cody Nickson on BB19. However, one can argue that Cody played too hard too fast and just wasn’t able to use that position to his advantage.

More often than not, winning the first HOH of the season can be extremely advantageous if a player is able to leverage that power correctly. In fact, BB23 houseguest Alyssa Lopez alluded to this during her casting interview with CBS, explaining how winning the first HOH would allow her to “align [herself] with powerful physical and mental players” in week 1.

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Big Brother 23 airs Sundays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays at 8pm ET/PT on CBS.

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Bernardo Sim
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Bernardo Sim writes about TV shows, queer culture, & Brazilian media. Born and raised in the Amazon, he now lives in South Florida. he/him

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